Age of Dragon: Uninvited Guest
by Ryker Davis
Summary: Part of the Age of Dragon one shots 9.42 Dragon. Inquisition is in full swing and the Commander is at the ball in Orlias. Our Warden crashes it needing to maneuver the outcome of who gets the Throne and reunites with Cullen. If only momentarily. Tied to the other stories in the Age of Dragon cycle. Set during the Wicked Mind, Wicked Hearts mission.


9:42 Dragon, 30 Drakonis - Ciara

Intrigue was a useful tool if you had the stomach for it. Maybe it was the Fereldan in me, but it was never a taste I acquired. Several fine teachers had taught me the art but not the satisfaction of a well-played game. In my opinion it had everything to do with demons playing the same cat and mouse game with mages. It didn't matter how good you were at the game invariably, in time someone better came along, and you lost. Between the pilfered dress and uncomfortable shoes, I was ready to give up and handle things my way. Give me Fereldan or Kirkwall fashion any day at least it was serviceable. I needed to make sure the Inquisitor chose to keep Celine on the throne. And I was in no mood to talk to the woman after she left Hawke in the Fade. Which was fine since I wasn't here… officially.

Two more circuits around the tiled dance floor with fops who either could not dance or were too busy trying to get themselves noticed dancing left me with an overwhelming desire to smite something or someone. But I was able to determine that he wasn't on the dance floor. I had heard them discussing him, so he was here. The gold filigree mask covered my upper face while the white ruffle covered my mouth leaving my identity completely concealed which was a good thing since the spymaster was lurking in the shadows somewhere. And of course, then there was Morrigan and I wasn't interested in a confrontation with her either.

It was good to know the Remigold was the one dance practiced all over Thedas. It was the one I actually knew how to dance properly. I curtsied to my partner making sure my head was lower. It would make all the ladies want to dance with him just to know what royal just admitted lack of superiority to a minor lording. I made my exit climbing the stairs, two at a time. I walked around the corner of the landing and surveyed the hallway.

That is when I saw him, standing with his back to the wall treating the ball as if it was a siege of the Tower. The only thing missing was armor and a sword. In my opinion, the garish red of the jacket the Inquisitors team was wearing only washed out his pale complexion. He looked more haggard this time. From what I knew of the past, he had to ignore the razor for a week to have that much stubble. His back was ramrod straight, so definitely not enjoying himself.

Maneuvering closer I was grateful for the first time since I looted this awful dress for the autonomy it offered in eavesdropping. His indignant yelp when one of his admirers flirting became physical made me want to rescue the man who'd always been shy and awkward in romance. Before I could intercede, the Inquisitor walked up and engaged him in conversation. Listening told me that they were at least aware of the danger and that she wanted Cullen's thoughts on the matter. What I found interesting was for a couple who were supposed to be in love their body language was too tense.

Breathe in, out, and stop stalling I told myself. I had no idea how he was going to react. And if I didn't hurry up Celine might be assassinated long before I could make my case. My hesitation lasted for several minutes after the Inquisitor left and his admirers had begun to pester him again. I stopped at the white divan trying to decide if sitting was a good idea. I could not get close enough. I positioned myself next to the woman in the ostentatious blue and pink dress, knowing my silver and black gown was no different.

Cullen could take it no more. Being here was almost impossible. Between trying to pretend everything was fine for Evelyn and the lyrium withdraw something was going to slip. If one more person asked him to dance, he would pull a sword and impale them where they stood. He needed to pull himself together they had a job to do and if he didn't…"

"Excuse me Ser, I"

"NO! I DO NOT WANT TO DANCE," he bellowed. He looked at the masked Orlesian noble. There was something different about the voice. If he didn't know better, it held the faintest of Ferelden accents.

Not that he could see it, but the grin had turned into a full smile. The temper was still there it just took a little longer before it showed. One of the perks of getting older maybe. "Pardon me. Ladies and kind sir. The inquisitor has requested that I escort the Commander to the veranda. There is an official task he must accomplish before returning to enjoying your company."

"But…" The woman standing next to me protested.

"I am sure when the Inquisitor is done speaking with him Ser Rutherford would be more than willing to take you on a turn around the dance floor. Or at least that was the impression she gave me."

Cullen narrowed his eyes not trusting the message. His team knew how much he detested this event. To suggest differently meant she was an imposter. He studied the woman if he could trust the voice and the dress as female. She was unidentifiable beneath the collar, corset, and skirts. The large neck guard as wide as the bell on the skirt hid the bottom half of her face. The brim on the hat pulled down low over the left side of the face allowed him to see only one grey eye. And his heart started beating so rapidly he could feel it in his ears.

I might have missed the recognition If I hadn't been watching for it. His face slackened and his breath came out in a hard exhale before he schooled it and became the formidable commander once more. "Ser? I am Lady Shayle of Honnleath If you can follow me, I promised to deliver you forth with."

"Why did she request a genteel Lady like you, to deliver messages like a lackey?" Cullen asked as soon as he unglued his tongue from the roof of his mouth.

The giggle escaped before I could stop it. There was something about this man and the girl I once was. Zevern used to be the only one who could take me back to those days. This had the feeling of those times when we snuck away at the circle. Of course, he was helping me work on control then but there was still subterfuge involved. "Because, Ser, I volunteered hoping that if I got you away from your admirers, I might be able to get a dance."

"Ladies and kind Ser." I curtsied again knowing the moment I left they were going to huddle together and try to figure out who I was. Intrigue was easy when everyone was playing a game and you didn't have to worry about the consequences. And his admirers wouldn't be able to resist. I had enough prominence to have the ear of the Inquisitor but not enough that I didn't bow to them, in addition to giving them a location of origin in Ferelden, the place he was from. I turned and walked away hearing Cullen making his excuses.

"Milady, I don't remember a Shayle in Honnleath. Although I must admit I have not been back in many years," Cullen said easily catching up and matching my stride.

"Maybe because you only knew her as the statue in the middle of common area. The Warden reactivated the golem with the control rod and the rest is history as they say." I led him to the open porch and waited for him to step out on the balcony before locking and placing a glamor charm on the door. Now anyone walking by would become distracted and we could have a marginal amount of privacy.

He didn't say anything instead choosing to walk over to the railing and lean upon it looking out over the grounds. He looked back at me as I tore off the offending hat. Long dark curls cascaded down over the poufy collar and down my back. The collar was the next aggravating item to be removed. I hooked my fingers under the eyeholes of the half mask intent on getting rid of it to when he told me to stop.

"Leave it on. It frames your face beautifully. Your gaze can be quite intense, and the gold softens the gray a touch."

I swallow hard. Not the awkward stuttering templar anymore. Definitely a man who understood words had as much power stirring passions as did intimate touches. "Are you alright? You're looking a little fatigued. It's only been several months since … I saw you."

For several minutes he didn't say anything. "I never expected to see you again after you left the Tower with your companions. And I didn't for almost eight years, now I've seen you twice in less than a year. Are you here to kill the Empress? It is said where you travel kings rise or fall."

I studied the man leaning over the balcony railing. His hands were trembling, there was a tightness around his eyes and creases in the normally smooth forehead. Even his voice held an edge. He was going through withdrawal. The blighted Chantry. "Cullen dance with me. If anyone from below is looking it will seem perfectly normal. I've put a misdirection charm on the door. No one will be joining us."

I took his hand even as he baulked. "My kingmaker days are behind me and I am no an assassin. Dance with me. I need to be able to touch you."

Hesitantly he put his hand on my waist and took mine. And we began to move to music neither of us heard. As he led, I closed my eyes and mouthed the words of a healing spells and pushed the manna into his body. He flinched as the power climbed across his skin meeting his natural templar resistance. I pushed harder and finally my power overcame his defenses.

It felt as if a thousand ants were biting him and he wanted her to stop. But where the pain was before only a blessed release after the tingling stopped. He gasped in delight as the ache in his head and body went away.

"Shush… I breathed. "You Templars are all the same trying to battle through it all alone. Just because you believe in suffering doesn't mean you have to do it all the time. The healing can't stop the withdrawal symptoms, but it can make the pain less."

She was right, the tightness in his chest and arms, the pain in his body melted away with the biting and stinging of the energy. Suddenly he felt more alert and less tire than he did before he stopped taking the liquid poison. "How?"

"Its just a healing spell. I know you remember me when I could barely seal a cut before I left the tower. Now I have senior enchanter level healing abilities. With all the battles, darkspawn, and demons I had to learn. As much practice as I had I became a respectable healer. Wynne couldn't keep us alive without killing herself, alone."

He chuckled. Probably the first time in months. "No silly Warden. How did you know what to do?"

I hesitated and fortunately I had become accustomed to dancing with Alistair and discussing business, so the hesitation did not transfer into my feet. "I treated this recently. A close friend of mine took lyrium for almost a year with travel to rescue his father in the Tevinter Imperium. It was rough for the first several months after he stopped taking it. Stupid man went to Tevinter without a mage."

"_Your_ king?"

"Yes."

"Did he tell you we knew each other at the monastery?"

"The conversation came up a few times. Especially since he was with me at the tower during your confession."

"Did he ask?"

"No, you made it pretty obvious that touching a mage was disgusting. He did apologize for you however. Funny thing that was when he started allowing me to know how he felt. He told me that loving me wasn't a sin."

"Andraste's tears, he was stronger than I was. I am so…"

"I know…" I would have said more but someone had overcome the mental resistance of the charm and was trying to come out on the balcony. "Protect the Empress they are going to try to kill her tonight. And she needs to keep the throne. Thedas needs her on the throne."

"But why?"

"You know me, Cullen. I wouldn't ask without a reason. Please trust me. I'll explain later. No one but the Inquisitor can know I was here. Don't forget the charm."

The banging on the door was more insistent and Cullen turned away to answer. He heard the pop and felt the suck of manna and knew she had used magic. Opening the door to Blackwall he prepared to introduce the Grey Warden to Ciara when he realized she was gone. He ran back to the edge and looked over not wanting to see her twisted body on the ground but having to know. Magic couldn't make you fly nor could it make you disappear.

"Commander are you alright?" Blackwall asked.

He scanned the ground one more time wondering if there was some skill, she picked up that allowed her to disappear. He had heard of powerful illusions. He turned back to the Grey Warden and said, "No. Yes. I just thought I saw someone. Did you see her?"

"No, Ser. I only saw you. The Inquisitor said you were hiding from err… taking a break from the festivities. She sent me to look for you and request you rejoin us."

Cullen took one more look around and noticed both the discarded hat and collar on the ground where she left them. Laying in the crown of the hat was a tortoise shell colored coon cat. He wondered where the large cat came from. He dumped the feline off the accessory as he picked it up.

"It looks like all Orlesians like you," Blackwell remarked and pointed to the cat winding it way around the Cullen's legs purring.

The cat followed him inside the palace keeping pace with the Commander and the Grey Warden until one of the palace servants chased the mouser out of the ballroom leaving Cullen with a sense of sadness. The cat was at least real he couldn't say that about any of the other guest here besides the inquisitor's companions and his Warden.

Days later back at Skyhold….

"Andraste's flaming sword am I tired." Cullen said to himself as he dropped his pack on the on the desk. The healing Ciara worked didn't last more than a day. But for that day there was blessed relief. He thought of his own mage and wished she understood his need to stop the lyrium. She'd told him he could get off it when they defeated Corypheus. But that meant all the suffering up to this point didn't have any meaning.

He pulled the fur cape off and tossed it on the bed and received an angry hiss for the heavy garment landing on the lone occupant. His chest plate halfway over his head when he heard the animal's complaint. He finished removing the metal shirt and pulled his sword and pointed it at the large cat. "Are you a demon?"

An orange and black paw hissed and batted at the sharp metal several times. Grey eyes regarded the male knight for a moment and noticed the tired haggard look was back. The cat stood, arching her back and stretched. The form began to change from the large cat into a human being once more. "No more than I was a trick to break you the last time. It's me, Cullen."

"Ciara?" he hesitated. "No demons can see our thoughts."

"Cullen. Its ancient elven magic, not demonology. I have been shapeshifting since the blight. I started learning in the Tower when I defeated the sloth demon. In dreams I learned to shift into a golem, fire person, a horror and a mouse. When I left the Tower the memories of my body shifting were still there but not quite the how it shifted. Morrigan started teaching me right after. I studied a spider for a month before I could transfer into the bug."

He sheathed the blade into the scabbard and then laid the leather on the table. "Were you the cat on the balcony with Blackwall? Is that how you got off the terrace at the Winter Palace?"

"Of course. Magic doesn't let you fly. Unless of course I changed to a bird. But I needed to stay in the palace and out of sight. I had a job to do but I didn't need rumors of the Ferelden Warden in Orlais."

"Do you always transform into a cat? If I remember you were always a hound person."

"No. Well it has become more common. When I wanted to hide in plain sight, I would become a Mabari. I haven't been able to bring myself to transform into a hound since I lost Barks. Becoming a rodent or an insect usually gets a broom or a shoe. A cat is frequently accepted indoors because they work. If I need to travel great distances, I choose either a wolf or bird.

"I looked for you. They even threatened to leave me behind because I knew you would come. You said you would explain."

"I did and I will. After you take off your shirt and boots. Don't stand on ceremony for me."

"Ahh…"

Quiet mirth tumbled from my lips. I had my shy Templar back. "Don't worry about your virtue my chaste knight. Remember what I told you long ago about healing and balms. They work better on bare skin."

The idea of being pain free dissipated any worry about improper behavior. He hurriedly removed the both the undershirt and armor padding. He sat down next to her on the bed and began pulling off his boots. He frowned when she climbed off the bed and walked over to the table he used as his desk.

"There are twenty-four vials of healing potion on your table. After I heal you take one every morning no mater how good you feel. The effect is cumulative and should get you over the worst of the addiction. There are ten potent health potions there also. Swallow the entire vial before going into battle."

He joined her at the table. "We need all the supplies we get for those that live here. I cannot in good conscious take from them."

Ciara turned to him and placed her hands on his ribs and closed her eyes. As the power transferred from her hands into his body, she could see him visibly deflate. Even his breathing was less labored. "None of them came from your keep's storages. I went and harvest the Elfroots, Heatherum and Foxite for the poultices. The only thing I used from your stores are the flasks and vials. If you are careful you can return them."

"Why? You could have just bought them." His hands rested on her shoulders and his thumbs caressed her jaw.

"Because the man you were when I knew you would have made an excuse and continued to suffer feeling it was your duty. This way because I made them for you …you'll use them. Besides, I am a mage it's what I do."

"I thought what you did was look up old friends and ask them to do the impossible. You said you'd explain. Everyone thought I'd lost my mind. She was ready to back Gaspard. Earlier when she asked, I even thought he was the better choice. But you asked me to choose the Empress, so I did. You do realize that by keeping her on the throne you haven't given up your Kingmaker ways. Why?"

I swallowed hard the last time we were this close I broke my rules and kissed him. I needed to step away but instead my hands slid around to his chest and well-defined abs. I desperately wanted to blame it on Alistair being pushed into marriage and needing an heir. But I knew it was more than that. There was a connection with Cullen. It had been there since we fell into the ice. After Alistair and I had become intimate Wynne asked me where I saw this going. She saw the similarities between him and Cullen. She didn't want Alistair hurt neither did I. "That is why I am here, is it not." I frown. I hadn't seen Morrigan in seven years and now I was channeling her.

"I do admit it is an odd place for a meeting with Ferelden's Commander of the Grey. I am assuming this is not an official meeting?"

I glanced down at my attire and shook my head. If it had been official, I would have been in 'War' my light armor. It was one of the best things about reconnecting with Weisshaupt Reach. "Technically speaking I am no longer the Warden Commander, but no this isn't official."

"Then why were you there?"

"Two reasons actually. The King of Ferelden asked me to intercede and Thedas needs her on the Orlesian throne."

Cullen frowned. "I thought Grey Wardens didn't interfere in local governments. It goes against what they stand for."

"That is the official line. And we try not to, we really do. But our real mandate … do whatever it takes to stop the blight. If we have to burn down a village, consider it torched. If we need to stop a civil war… well Alistair is King isn't he. I am not going speak about the support Orlais offered the Wardens or King Calian before the blight but Thedas needs Celine on the throne for now. The Tevinter Empire is attempting to retake Thedas and destabilizing governments. Ferelden, the Free Marshes, and Antiva need Orlais to be strong and unified."

"We need to talk to the Inquisitor. She needs to know this. The Inquisition needs you."

"No."

"Why not?"

"I will not fight for something I do not believe in."

"How can you not believe in closing the breach? It is a threat to all of us. The Inquisitor is trying to close the breach. With your help she can defeat Corypheus and close it."

"I will help. If I can with blighter Corypheus because as a Grey Warden, he is my responsibility. And if doing so, helps close the breach then that is good. But…"

"She is a good woman. A mage like you who needs help. The Ciara I knew at the Tower…"

"Do not talk to me about _your_ mage. She left my cousin in the fade."

"Hawke volunteered to stay … They could not escape without someone staying behind and distracting the Nightmare demon."

"I traveled all over Thedas, fighting demons, darkspawn, undead, werewolves with nine. Not to mention began and ended a civil war, ended a stalemate among the dwarves, all while being hunted by my king's killer. I lost no one. She has an entire army, the entire religious order, and several countries backing her, including ours.

"She's not you." Cullen took my hand and gently squeezed. "She is trying to do the best job she can."

"Oh Cullen. You love her, don't you?"

"What does that mean? I don't have to love her to see her cause is just and that we need her."

I cupped his cheek with my free hand, "Nothing. You're right."

"Ciara!"

I took a deep breath, I didn't want to alienate him. "She doesn't ask for help and others suffer. Anora was that was that way. She thought she was only one who could do what it took to save Ferelden and look what it did to our homeland. Or she does ask and choses to do things her own way despite the offered help."

"Ciara you're not being fair. She is the only one who can enter the Fade. And she couldn't take others back in to look for Hawke as there was a battle right after and the Grey Wardens barely survived."

"That's my point. I sent word and a copy of the litany. But she chose not to use it. It would have saved most of the Grey Wardens and given the group she took in the Fade some protection from Nightmare. How do you think Alis..the king of Ferelden withstood the fake calling."

"Fiona and the other mages told her that it would not work." Cullen replied uncertainly.

I sighed and pulled away from him walking over to stand at his bookcase. "I know you don't have pleasant memories of the abominations but tell me. How do you think I… we beat Uldred and protected the First Enchanter? It was the Litany of Andralla. It protects the user from mind domination. Most mages don't know about the litany, I didn't until Niall."

"Oh Ciara, I didn't know. I thought you just killed him and hoped the First Enchanter was unaffected."

"Do you see why I am not interested in helping her now?"

"I thought it was because you were trying to find a cure for your calling." He said changing the subject. He knew her stubborn streak and if he kept asking, she would refuse on general principal alone.

I chuckled and turned to face him. "I can do more than one thing at a time. I while ending a blight, I crowned two kings, stopped a curse, found Andraste's ashes. Shall I continue? I really don't want to sound like I am bragging."

"Just a little."

"Then it's a good thing you're around to keep me humble."

"Is that all I am here for?"

The question held a vulnerability that made me suck in my breath. He crossed the floor and pulled me into his arms. The kiss left us breathless. I laid my forehead on his chest and asked softly, "_Your_ mage?"

"Tomorrow," he huffed out and hungrily kissed me again.

A fistful of woolen fabric of the simple green kirtle bunched in his hands as he pulled the offending garment over her head and tossed it on the floor. Skin touched bare skin as their lips locked once more.

I slid my hands around his waist, over his hips and across his buttocks firmly squeezing.

Cullen broke away from the kiss and said, "Did you just grab my bottom."

I couldn't help it but I laughed, the chuckle was throaty and full of pent up passion. I nodded and said, "And what I fine bottom it is. To think of all the time you hid it under Templar robes."

He groaned and said, "That wasn't all I kept…"

Several hard thumps on the door interrupted the foreplay. He growled, "Who is it?"

The female voice saying 'it's me. Can I come in,' had both Cullen and I stiffen. I didn't want to be caught here. And Cullen for all his passion for me wasn't quite ready to lose her. "Let her in. It must be important at this hour. Or maybe she won't take no for answer anymore and wants to know about your bottom too."

"But…"

"Let her in and talk to her. Do not send her away," I said as I shifted into the coon cat.

She knocked again. "Cullen?"

"Give me a second. I was getting undressed," Cullen said grabbing his shirt off the bed. He was grateful the evidence of passion moments earlier was dissipating. He didn't know what to think. Was the Maker telling him that he could not have Ciara? He couldn't bear to think she was supposed to be a test of his faith. And then for Eve to be coming to his rooms this late. He noticed Ciara on the bed watching him with cat eyes and wondered how much of her was still human. He opened the door with his shirt in his hand. "Inquisitor?"

"Are we back to that, Cullen? I know I couldn't sympathize with what you were doing stopping the Lyrium. It hurt me to see you in pain. But I didn't want it to come between us."

"Eve," Cullen looked at the bed and the cat that appeared to be ignoring them. "I didn't expect you at this hour, is all."

Evelyn looked around Cullen's room and realized how much of it fit him. "I wanted to check on you. I wanted to see how you were doing. It was a long mission."

"Oh, is that all? I am good. I mean the trip was long. But…"

Evelyn looked at him curiously. He was acting almost bashful and a lot softer than she had ever seen him. "Were you taking that off or putting it on."

"What?"

"Your shirt. Are you alright, Cullen?"

"Oh yes. I am fine. I was taking it off but now…" He pushed his head through the neck of the garment.

"You don't have to put it back on for me. I am enjoying seeing what the hours of sword work and conditioning has done to your body."

"You do? I mean it would be improper."

"Do you always do the proper thing? Haven't you thought about just braking the rules and doing something… well spur of the moment?"

Cullen thought about what would have happened if she hadn't knocked on the door and swallowed hard. Sleeping with Ciara meant breaking every rule he knew. And he would have done it, he admitted to himself. His eyes found the cat. She was laying on the bed with only the tail swishing back and forth. "Actually recently I have found myself very weak."

"It wouldn't hurt you, you know. Sometimes breaking the rules can lift your soul. What a beautiful cat."

"Yes, she is."

"When did you get her?"

"Ummm I didn't. I mean I don't know. She was here on the bed when I got back. Kind of by magic."

"Is she yours? I remember we used to have cats in my circle. Are you going to keep her? If not, can I have her?"

"I wish she were mine. But I am sure she belongs to someone else and he…or she will want her back."

Evelyn tried to pet the cat but it just hissed and scratched at her. "I guess she doesn't like me much."

He finished pulling his shirt down over his chest. Walked over and picked up the cat. But to his surprise, she hissed and scratched at him too. Cullen wasn't sure what Ciara was trying to telling him. She had told him not to get rid of Eve. "I guess she is not happy with me right now either."

"I came to talk to you about … your decision at the ball. You said the Warden asked you to support Celine. You said you didn't know why. Have you heard from her?"

"I had not heard from her before we left Orlais. And we just got home.

"Why did she contact you?"

Cullen shrugged. He hadn't told Evelyn about Ciara's first visit or the fact that it left him confused to as how he felt about her. He was even more confused what almost happened. "Maybe because I am the Commander and she is a Commander. We can understand each other on that level."

"Yes, but she traveled with Leliana during the blight. The bard would be the more logical choice. What I really want to know is why she refuses to speak with me. I have sent messengers to find her. Cassandra has looked for her and so has the spymaster with all of her scouts. Only you have spoken with her."

Cullen looked pointedly at the cat who had returned to her place in the middle of his bed. She closed her eyes and laid her head flat, only the tail moving told him she hadn't gone to sleep. Not receiving an answer Cullen said, "All I can think is she doesn't want to be part of the Inquisition."

"Why?"

"You're tied to the Chantry. I think it is a religious thing for her."

Evelyn's thumb rested on her cheekbone and the first two fingers massaged her temple. "Everyone supports us. Governments, Magi, Templars, even the Wardens. And she is going to take exception to the chantry?"

"You do not understand what it was like for her. Your family bribed the Templars and allowed you to have contact with them. You even got to go home. She lost everything. She has five brothers and sister and she's never been allowed contact after being taken to the Circle. And when the templars took her from her family it was messy. She blames it on the chantry and has never forgiven them. Another reason Cassandra and Leliana probably haven't heard from her."

"I didn't know you knew her that well? You only said there was an infatuation. It almost sounds like an obsession," Evelyn said frustration coloring her tone.

Amusement lifted the corner of his mouth as he said, "You almost sound jealous. As my charge in the Tower we were told about her family. It important because one mother had every child with magical abilities. Which meant we needed to watch them more carefully. Also, Amell's coming to the tower is told so we know where and how if she was to escape. Besides I have more knowledge because I also worked with her family in Kirkwall against Meredith. I know you've only heard Hawke addressed as Hawke. His mother is an Amell. Their mothers were cousins."

"You heard, she rescued Hawke. Of course, she rescued him they are family. That didn't' help my cause, with the Hero, did it?"

"How? She cannot enter the fade. Only you can.

"There are others who can walk the fade besides me. But she wasn't in the physical fade like I was. She dream-walked as all mages do. Except according to Varric's letter Hawke told him she was traveling with a dragon. Between the dragon and the Hero, they were able to defeat Nightmare. They protected him while they traveled to where the veil was thin in the crossroads. Then mages from the circle got him out. Hawke is back in Denerim with Varric. The king is hosting them until he is better. Varric says he will return when he sees Hawke safe."

The cat jumped off the bed, walked over to the door, and started meowing.

"Oh look the cat wants out." Evelyn opened the door and the feline darted out just as Cullen said, "No."

Cullen had mixed feelings about the departure of the transformed guest. Talking to Evelyn while she was here was difficult. But he didn't know when or if she was coming back. She was mad at Eve for leaving her cousin there but didn't tell him that she had rescued Hawke. How much power did she have?

"Cullen you look better. Did you begin taking it again?"

"No. I received hea… I took a healing potion and while it didn't cure me it made the symptoms bearable. I still have Cassandra to help. Should I need it. I will not have it affect the inquisition."

"I wish I had thought of that before suggesting you go back on the lyrium. I care for you. I just didn't want to lose you." She was standing in front of him and gingerly touch his chest. When he didn't move she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. At first, he didn't respond and then without warning he was kissing her back with a fervor.

When they stepped away from each other she asked, "Does this mean ...?"

Cullen sighed. He didn't know what to tell her. He loved her. But he couldn't get past Ciara. The fact that he had Eve in his arms and was thinking about the other mage proved that. "Let's just take it slow and let it happen if it's going to."

"Meow."

Cullen woke up with a furry paw batting his nose and purring loudly. He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep in the predawn hours. Only to have the eighty-pound cat step on his chest and begin kneading the blankets. "Meow."

"I'm up."

"Meow."

"I see you got back in. I waited for you last night. I thought we might finish the conversation."

The cat nuzzled her orange and black head against his face purring.

"You could shift back into a human."

A plaintive meow was his only answer. She laid there allowing her eyes to close while a deep rumble became louder as he stroked her fur.

"I knew you would come back you left your dress behind." The purr was beginning to lull him back to sleep. For the first time in a while he didn't' remember the nightmares.


End file.
